Working Hands

A boatyard worker bears down hard on an unseen chisel as he sharpens

it with his hands against a sharpening stone. Thick hands and

fingers, stained by oil and covered by deep wood stains leached from

wood from old boats, and fingers cut by tools reveal his trade as

boatwright and old boat restorer. Nikon F100, 35~70 Nikkor f4.0-

4.6 "D" at approx. 60 mm. Available light. Image full frame.

Unmanipulated by Photoshop.

Your ratings and critiques are very welcome ;-)) (Please support

any strongly critical ratings with a helpful comment/please share

your superior knowledge constructively). Enjoy. John Crosley.

Loft

Cropping of end of thumb a bit of a problem.

assuming you want to show the texture of the hands...being that they are the subject of the photo...it would need more Depth of field.

Moshe, I appreciate your helpful comment, however these hands were in motion, and there was dim light in the gloaming, and so, while I was stopped down somewhat for some depth of field, any further stopping down would have placed this photo into motion blur and defeated the purpose of trying to obtain a photo of the texture of these fine hands. While my subject was cooperative, he was busy doing his job and he only allowed me to peek in with my camera as he worked; not to stop him and direct him as a model would. As a result, it was catch as catch can. So, in an ideal world, I would have had my klieg lights, my reflectors, my fill flash going and everything else, but this is a candid shot, over a working man's shoulder, tolerated by him as he was grinding a point on a chisel, and there's only so much a subject will put up with, before he simply says "enough!" John Crosley

I actually don't know what "Crosslit" means, "Calvin" although I bet I could guess. I took this photo under a strong late afternoon diffuse foggy/low cloud light, which I find wonderful for taking color photographs close-up and which is common on the Central California Coast -- it brings out colors and reduces glare and excessive contrast. These are the hands of Terry the Boatwright, whose photo appears elsewhere, -- "Bum or Artist -- You Decide?"

As to the missing thumb tip, commented on elsewhere above, I will bet that it's on the negative, which I have mislaid, but the photofinisher has in printing cropped it out, as I have a running battle with them over their need to "crop" because of machine and operator needs/errors. I tend to compose very well in the viewfinder and it is rare I will overlook something so important in the initial shooting, especially where I can take multiple images. Watch this space for the answer in a few days, or so. However, I accept responsibility for posting without checking, as I am the ultimate quality controller of my work. John Crosley

I think Calvin who made the comment about Cross-lighting, removed his comment. jsc

i like hands ,which work & pay for what they get, and your look jhon. regards

Normally I would say B&W but after thinking again I think this is much better in colour. It demonstrates hard work and rest.

A leathery, well worn look nicely captured.

Thank you for the comment. The look of darkness is dyes and/or colorings leached out of aged wood being worked on that has transferred to worker Terry's hands. John